How It Should Have Been
by Sarcastic Musician
Summary: The Police Department gets stuck in a hostage situation. Alex freaks out. Maggie's a certifiable bad ass. Warning: Some death, but only background characters that we don't really see. Or know. Or really anything they're just there but nothing graphic.


Hey all! Thanks for clicking on! I have a super huge favor if you have a free ten minutes. For my senior thesis I need to get participants for a survey I created concerning childhood satisfaction, attitudes about life and one's desire to have children. A mouth full I know! I can't even explain how greatly your participation would help. You have to be 18 or older with or without kids. Also, I'm way too lesbian and basically only know one guy (who is my grampa)...so if you know any dudes you can hassle into participating that'd be awesome.

Thank you for letting me bug you, onto the story (or survey ;) )

Here is the link if any kind souls want to do me a solid: [take out the spaces and add " **H** eather **T** eapot **T** eapot **P** ennsylvania" first letters to the beginning ...I blame the anitlink rule]

: / / www . surveymonkey / r/ Desire_To_Parent_Survey

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It wasn't supposed to happen like this. It wasn't supposed to be her, it wasn't supposed to be now, it wasn't supposed to be like this.

It was supposed to be at game night on Friday. It was supposed to be between Scrabble and Monopoly. It was supposed to be a small comment, a little hint. It was supposed to be said with a smile and clasps hands. Tears, if they happened, were supposed to be happy. Hugs were supposed to be full of joy and laughter.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. And God.

 _What if it ends like this?_

Alex doesn't need much in life. Doesn't ask for much. Her sister to be safe. A burger from that truck in Chicago once and awhile. But, she'd give that stupid burger up, she swears she would to know Maggie is safe. She would give so so much for Maggie to be okay.

 _For Maggie to be safe._

She knows the others are scared. Agents surrounding the room's eyes' tracking her frozen, tensed form with fear, with concern, with... Somewhere in the back of her mind she knows, she just can't bring herself to care. Not right now.

Not when she's left to watch the recording from Kara's suit cam as she flies to the police department.

 _A hostage situation._

Winn had stuttered the words as the computer began blaring the location. Alex's sure she's never hated that blinking red pin so much in her life. Perhaps, she's never hated something in her entire life as much. Never feared it. Never had it hit her heart like a punch.

Kara's running, flying, and running again, before Alex can control her shaking.

Stupid voicemail. Stupid phone. Stupid freaking alien- The phone finds it's way across the room in seconds. The smash of it against the wall, as well as the startled jumps it causes, are barely registered (if at all) as Alex zeros her gaze on to the screen.

Shots ring out. Too many shots.

Kara rushes to a group of police officers huddled to the side, voices harsh and hushed in planing mode.

"What've we got?"

"A group, not sure how many exactly. We've had reports of anywhere between five and eight, most of our guys have made it out but-" More shots ring out, "Not all."

"How many are left inside?"

"Five officers that we know of, the rest are accounted for," Alex takes a moment to breathe, to hope. Only five, there's a chance, there's a big chance. She finds herself searching the faces of the officer's within the group.

The camera bounces a bit as Kara seems to nod quickly, body moving to face the building.

"Any communication with them?"

"We had one radio in, about a minute into the attack. Nothing has been able to come through since. We're thinking they may have a radio jammer or some alien tech. As far as we've been able to tell the officers weren't able to evacuate as the rest of us were. Some got lead back with gunfire, others.." At this the chief seems to stumble

"Wh-"

"I told her not to go back, I- I tried." A familiar voice has Alex's throat closing, eyes stinging instantly

Maggie's partner.

"My partner, she just-" A troubled swallow, "We heard the gunfire, she said she was coming right behind me, but once I got out and looked back she was gone. The radio call was her. She said she was trying to get those in holding safe." He pauses, head motioning to the three shackled men to his side, "She got them all, but then-" His nerves seem to be nearly as bad as Alex's own as his voice all but shakes, "it ended with shots. We don't, chief won't-"

"We'll find her."

The chief seems to nod at whatever he finds in Kara's eyes. "Holding is in the back of the building, follow the hallway and you should be able to cover the department in one swoop. We've got your six."

The arm wrapped around Alex's stomach grows tighter as if the harder she pulls, the tighter she clings, the more she will be able to pull herself together.

Kara seems to pause as the conversation fades away into the general buzz. Not being able to ignore Alex's frozen stature, J'onn takes over communications.

"Supergirl, can you see anything?"

"Not, well, no aliens." Her voice seems to hesitate, jump starting Alex's dread

"What do you mean?"

"I, uh," Kara's breathing seems to stutter

"Kara!" She doesn't mean for her voice to be so loud, so broken, so scared but….Maggie.

"It's nothing." She seems to straighten her spine as the office doors draw closer to the screen

Gasps float among the air, almost suffocating Alex quicker than her own thoughts. Glass crunches under Kara's boot as the camera begins to adjust for the lighting, the reason for Kara's stuttering becoming clear.

Bodies.

Three uniform are splayed around the room. Before J'onn's voice can leave his throat Kara's rings through.

"No heart beats."

Silence descends over both rooms, before Kara's pacing can be heard again.

She moves further back from the figures as a few of the group head to their downed coworkers. Weapons were collected at their sides. They went down fighting. They went down protecting.

Another body lay strewn across the room, the creature unfamiliar but sure to be looked over at the DEO. Alex doesn't have the mind to think about it. Think about anything, anything about Maggie that is.

"I know this is hard, but, we're still looking for two more, Supergirl."

Kara's hair shifts a small sign of her nod in understanding. "Yeah, yeah, okay." A sniff, and she's rounding the lobby's corner

More shots ring out, closer this time. The sound of them ricocheting from Kara's suit eases part of Alex's mind. No kryptonyte. _One of her girls is safe_.

A well place laser has the figure downed, the clamber of police officers quickly apprehending the being is the soundtrack to Kara's further advance.

Corridors and rooms quickly blend together.

Step, step, breathe.

Step, step, breathe.

Alex finds herself forcing breath into her lungs at the rhythm of her sister's crunching boots.

Four unconscious figures are cuffed during their progress, Maggie nowhere in sight. The fact causing hope and fear to flood Alex's veins in tandem.

She can't let herself hope. _She can't._

She can't have lost her. _She can't._

Step, step, breathe.

Step, step-

Gun shots ring out as the doors to the holding area stand ominously before Kara and the group. Their whiteness and normality causing a pit of nausea to bubble in Alex's stomach. _Just like this was any other day._

Kara's camera turns to her right, Maggie's partner standing beside her with a stoic nod. The other's had tapered off working to apprehend and care for injured criminals.

The gun fire seems to stop as quickly as it started, a loud thump announcing its end. Within a moment the duo kick through the door, the-

"What the hell?"

"Winn! Get them back!"

"It's not-" He yells in panic, hands jamming at his beloved keyboard, "It's not the camera-"

Suddenly, the darkness seems to shift. The screen rocking with Kara's movements.

"Kara!" Alex finds her voice, fear taking control of her body

"What in the-" Kara's voice rings out as she seems to pull herself from the floor

"Sorry, Supergirl, dangerous situation and all."

The voice.

Her voice.

Alex's eyes nearly flood with relief as Kara's camera pans over the destruction of the cells before landing on Maggie. Heavy breaths. Scratched face. Defensive smirk.

Maggie.

 _Maggie._

Alex nearly follows her fears to the floor as they seep from her body.

"How did you, not that I'm complaining, but-" Kara's voice grounds Alex back to the moment

The camera pans quickly back over the scene as two more unconscious attackers can be scene handcuffed to the sides, a third taking up residence in the the closest cell. A final officer leans slouched against the far wall, leg twisted awkwardly.

"What the hell kind of training do they give you?" The amazement in Kara's voice is heavy in the air as the officers from before begin to drag the unconscious from the room, a stretcher and ambulance crew focused on the downed officer.

"Ah, you're not too bad yourself." Maggie brushes off the compliment, instantly greeted with an armful of her partner.

"I'm going to kill you, if Alex doesn't first." He grumbles, pulling Maggie tighter in his embrace

"Shit."

Shit is right.

One day Alex might be proud that she -not gunfights, not hostage situations, not danger- can cause that amount of concern to take up open residence on Maggie's face. Today, however, is not that day.

"Alex-" Kara's questioning is cut off

"Bring Detective Sawyer back to headquarters, Supergirl," J'onn commands, eyes not leaving his surrogate daughter's tense but slowly calming form

Almost as soon as Maggie is released from her partner's arms, she's airborne in Kara's own.

Alex's pacing is almost as nerve wracking for the scurrying agents around her as her frozen silence had been minutes before. J'onn's eyes soften in acknowledgement as he watches Alex nearly wear a path into the floor. Before he can reach out, offer some warmth, offer some help, a rush of breeze announces the presence of the duo. Of Kara and Maggie.

Maggie.

 _Maggie._

A choked breath is the only warning the room receives before Alex becomes nothing more than a flash of black coming to a sudden end in a tight embrace of the smaller detective. Agents force themselves to avert their gaze as the shuddering breath of their coworker reverberates through the room.

Kara shifts to J'onn and Winn's side confusion and concern marring her features.

"Hey, hey, hun, it's okay. I'm okay." Maggie whispers, running her hand through Alex's hair in an attempt at comfort. The shuddering breath and tightened embrace she receives has her continuing the soothing motion.

"I just-" Alex shudders, voice shaking as she strives for control. She pulls back from Maggie's embrace, arms securing Maggie in her space. Her eyes jump from scratch to scrape, noting nothing but Maggie's presence, Maggie's breathing, Maggie's signs of life. "You were-"

"I know." Maggie whispers, raising her hand to brush away the tear quietly trailing down her face

"I just- And I couldn't- Mag-" Before a sentence can be finished, before a thought can be completed, Alex acts. The kiss is soft, softer than the pull in might make one might think. Alex feels herself breathe fully again, the fear loosening her grip as Maggie's presence surrounds her.

Beyond the duo lost in their own world, Alex's family watches with awe, with smiles, with love. Winn's eyebrows may be stuck in their high arch. Kara's eyes fill with emotion, her smile matching that of the man next to her.

It wasn't supposed to happen like this. It wasn't supposed to be now. It was supposed to be at game night on Friday. It was supposed to be between Scrabble and Monopoly. It was supposed to be a lot of things, but what it is, is perfect.

What it is, is real.

What it is is love.

That's how it's supposed to be. That's how it is.


End file.
